


Learning to fly

by Nerdgirl001



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Anxious Scully, Gen, Paranoid Langly, Part way through season 3 ish, Plane Crash AU, Some Fluff, Tom petty lyrics, Worried Mulder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-24 16:10:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9769745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdgirl001/pseuds/Nerdgirl001
Summary: I listened to Tom Petty "Learning to Fly" and wrote this to avoid studying for my midterms. Mulder, Langly, and Scully all attempt to get to Miami for a mission. Things don't go exactly as planned.





	1. Chapter 1

~ Well I started out down a dirty road  
Started out all alone  
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill  
And the town lit up, the world got still ~ 

"Are you sure you don't want to drive?" Scully asked for the third time since they had decided that they were taking the case. It was around 4 am and they were standing in their office preparing to leave for the airport.

Mulder eyed her suspiciously, "is there a reason you don't?" They had been over this a few times now. He knew there wasn't a particular reason, just a feeling.

Scully shrugged, but he could see how tense her shoulders were. He began to worry, as he always did when she got this way. "It's just-" she sighed, "I just feel like driving would be better for this one." 

Mulder turned it over in his head and wondered when her flight anxiety had come back. He thought she'd beaten that a long time ago. "I would fold Scully, I really would, if the full moon wasn't in two nights. We just can't take the fourteen hour drive if we are going to stop this guy before he disappears forever." 

Scully sighed. She knew he was right, but something kept tugging at her subconscious and giving her that hollow feeling. "Mulder. I just need you to trust me. This isn't a good idea." the look he gave her made her squeeze her eyes shut for a moment before she took a deep breath. "Tell me everything's going to be okay." 

"What? Scully if you really-" 

"Tell me everything's fine and this is just useless anxiety." she looked down, she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye for some reason. She had no idea what was wrong with her. 

Suddenly she felt his arms surround her and pull her toward him. She allowed herself to be drawn into him, her cheek resting against his button up shirt. She took a deep breath.

"Everything's going to be okay." 

It was the most reassuring he'd ever been, but some small part of her still resisted. She took another deep breath and allowed the scent of her partner to melt away her final worries. 

"Plus Langly hates car rides. It would be miserable for all of us." Mulder rubbed his hands down her back a few times before he released her. He was still concerned, but she was looking better, so he pushed his worries back. 

She sighed lightly, "I nearly forgot he was coming." 

Mulder smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, "you ready?" 

She nodded and Mulder lead her out of their office and to the car that was waiting for them. 

A quick stop awaited them to pick up Langly before they were off to the airport. 

~~~

The car ride had been a quiet one. Neither one having anything to say, they listened to music and stared out the windows. 

When they finally got Langly, Scully ensured that he kept talking so that they didn't have to. Mulder found himself impressed with Scully's ability to ask just the right questions so that she didn't have to speak for long segments of time. He wondered vaguely if she ever did that with him when she wasn't interested in talking. He wondered how often she spoke in their conversations. He smiled, knowing it was often. 

At that moment they were discussing the latest of the Lone Gunman's articles: 'Top 10 Ways the Government is Controlling You'. 

"How is that only number six? You've basically claimed that the government has control over every aspect of our lives, how can you have five more?" she sounded exasperated, but Mulder could tell that it was all a front to keep him talking. 

Langly, taking the bait without question, dove into explanation. First he outlined what he had yet to go over and why each one was true, and then defended their order. This conversation took until they arrived at the airport. It would have taken longer had Mulder not interrupted with, "alright. We're in an airport now, none of that this-country-is-stealing-our-secrets crap. You'll get us arrested." 

They got through security with a bit more difficulty than usual. While they were waiting Scully explained to Langly how these new security measures were due to the fact that president Clinton called for a review of airport security features, not to mention the Lockerbie bombing a few years earlier, and not the fact that the government wants to know what type of shampoo you own.

Langly, of course, refuted her reasoning and substituted a long complex reason for why these new measures would ensure government control over the people and, for added measure, explained that by knowing what kind of shampoo people use they can determine which would be most effective to infuse with their compliance drugs. Scully didn't dignify him with a response. Mulder stayed out of it.

After they got through security they had only about half an hour before they boarded the plane, so they sat by the gate in silence. The sun rose slowly, the light that emanated from it made the world outside difficult to look at. It was the sort of light that instantly turned a look into a daze, making the world turn in slow motion.

Mulder, once he realized that Scully was too nervous to start a conversation, started one himself. "So, Langly. Ready for the mission?" 

Langly lit up at the mention of the case, "Dude, I am so ready. I've been ready since the day I was born." 

Mulder laughed and shifted subtly so that his hand rested on Scully's shaking knee, calming it slightly, "it's going to be an interesting one. Why aren't Frohike and Byers coming too?" 

Langly looked down, "uh- we kinda aren't speaking at the moment." 

Mulder gave him an intrigued look and Langly sighed, "It's stupid really, just something about an article we were working on. I told them that we needed to-"

"Now boarding flight 275." a voice called, cutting Langly off mid sentence. 

Scully stood and grabbed her carry on. She was silent and stone faced. Mulder hated it when she was like that. He knew she was hiding her emotions from him, and that she would pull away from him if he tried to comfort her. 

They joined the small crowd gathering around the terminal and boarded their flight to Miami.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes all you need is a friend to help you through. Sometimes you need the disaster.

~ Well some say life will beat you down  
Break your heart, steal your crown  
So I've started out for God knows where  
I guess I'll know when I get there ~

They quickly found seats next to each other. Scully took the window seat, Mulder sat next to her, and Langly took the next available seat across the aisle from them. 

Scully still wasn't talking to Mulder, she was inspecting the wing and wondering how she let him convince her to get onto this old rickety thing. She should have stayed behind, let the boys take this one and take some time off. She sighed. At least this way she'd be able to stop them from hurting themselves, probably. 

Mulder and Langly weren't talking either, for no particular reason other than the fact that the significant glances and small motions were enough for them to transfer the information that they needed to without Scully's notice. Mulder let Langly know about Scully's anxieties about this flight. They discussed why she wasn't talking and decided that there must be something going on with her. Langly agreed to let Mulder handle it, and read a magazine he had brought with him about survival below the government's radar. 

Scully meanwhile, noticed their conversation but decidedly stayed out of it. She instead looked around at the passengers on this pea pod of a plane. There were around twenty people on the plane, and there were maybe five empty seats.

Near the back three girls, not over twenty five years old, excitedly talked in the back. They seemed to be going on a vacation, possibly the first one without their families. 

Around them sat a few people who appeared to be on their own. They were all reading magazines or looking out the windows. Then there was her, Mulder, Langly, and a teenage girl in a row. She was maybe 17- 19 at the oldest, and was absorbed in reading a tween magazine. 

Ahead of them was one couple, who appeared to be married, and more people who seemed to be alone.

Suddenly she felt the weight of their deaths resting on her shoulders.

Mulder turned to Scully, she was taking deep breaths obviously trying to calm herself down. He placed his hand on her knee again, not knowing what he could do to calm her down but needing some sort of contact to start. She turned to look at him. Her eyes were expressionless. Her jaw pulled tight. 

He cleared his throat and placed his forehead against hers, half expecting a head-butt in return. When instead her features calmed a bit he whispered to her, "Everything's going to be alright." 

She looked into his eyes, fear spreading across her features. She knew it wasn't.

Mulder felt a pain in his chest when he knew that there was nothing her could do to help her. He wished he could dispel her worries, or at least find out why she was getting them. Maybe they ought to have driven. 

She wished that she could just stop. She wanted her heart beat to slow down. She wanted Mulder to stop giving her those looks. She wanted her brain to stop telling her that this plane was going down. She buried her face into her hands, hoping to shut out the pounding world around her.

"Scully." her head snapped up as Mulder's hand tightened on her knee, "you're scaring me." 

She closed her eyes for a moment, when she opened them Mulder still had that worried look. "I'm sorry. I really don't know what's coming over me. I just- I just feel like this plane is going down." she lowered her voice for the last part. She didn't want to cause a panic. 

Mulder took her hands in his and looked into her eyes, "Okay, think with me, how many flights have we been on over these last few years?" 

Scully thought back, "maybe forty?" 

Mulder nodded, not breaking eye contact with her, "and how many times have our flights- gone down?" they both realized that they needed to be discreet, talking about plane crashes on planes was notorious for causing panics.

Scully sighed, "Zero, Mulder. But doesn't that just mean that we're more likely to be in one?" 

He raised an eyebrow at her, "that's not the Scully I know. The Scully I know would accept that it depends entirely on the plane. Not on who's in it." 

She shook her head, "I know you're right Mulder, and that the likelihood of a crash is not high. But that's not how anxiety works. If you were able to reason your way out of worry at any point then the DSM wouldn't have classified anxiety as a disorder."

Mulder nodded, "is there anything I can do to help?" 

Scully couldn't help but allow a small smile to spread across her cheeks at the rawness of his words, "thank you Mulder, but short of knocking me out. I'm not sure there's much you can do." 

Mulder contented himself by running his thumb around her kneecap in calming, even, paced circles. 

Scully appreciated his trying, but wanted nothing more than to run to some enclosed space and lock herself in. Eventually, Mulder was able to relax her enough that she could fall into an uneasy sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When disaster strikes you've just got to roll with the punches.

~ I'm learning to fly, around the clouds  
But what goes up must come down ~ 

She woke to the captain's announcement, "we seem to be running into some strong turbulence here. We're going to ask that you keep your seat belts fastened until the end of the flight." 

Scully looked to Mulder who, although inside had the strange feeling that she had been right all along, gave her a reassuring smile. 

As the plane began to rattle and shake however, both of them felt their stomachs drop. They laced fingers immediately and squeezed each other's hands. 

There was a strong gale of wind that pulled the plane off its course. They were pushed forcefully out to sea. As the plane rattled and shook Scully closed her eyes. For a moment she was drifting through space, her only tie to the ground and that plane was Mulder's hand. 

As the rumbling got worse and the sound of twisting metal got louder the captain came over the announcements again, but no one heard what he was saying. The passengers were screaming and praying and crying. Langly was trying to calm down the teenager sitting next to him. It was her first flight alone. He put his arm around her shoulder and told her that she was going to be alright. 

Scully opened her eyes and looked at Mulder, who in turn was staring at her. They both realized that these may be their last moments. Mulder looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to, Scully got the same feeling. Instead of saying anything Mulder wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. As the plane plummeted Scully blacked out with only the feeling of Mulder's arms following her into her dreams.

She woke again in the few moments before impact. By now Mulder had passed out as well. She realized that an oxygen mask had been placed on her, but that her partner was without one. She wriggled free from his arms and caught hold of the swaying mask above him. As she went to place it over his mouth, every part of her was screaming at her to kiss him. She pressed her lips into his quickly and hastily then placed the mask where it belonged. 

She looked around, but everyone else was either passed out or too focused on the fact that they were going to die here to see them. Little did she know, Mulder had done the same thing to her just a few moments earlier. 

Suddenly, they stopped. 

Everyone and everything was thrown forward roughly. Scully's seatbelt, which she had moved in the processes of grabbing Mulder's mask, sliced along her side. She cried out with most of the other passengers. 

Upon impact the snack cart came lose from it's position and hurdles down the aisle only stopping when it hit, with quite the crunch, Mulder's leg and Langly's arm. 

Luggage had rained down on people, either knocking them out or injuring them in some way.

Once the plane stopped moving and the world began to make sense again Scully unbuckled and stood carefully, keeping pressure on her side. She checked her partner's pulse and was glad to find a strong steady beat beneath her fingers.

She carefully stepped over Mulder and checked on the people surrounding them. Langly woke up as she approached him. His arm was hanging at a strange angle, obviously broken by the carnivorous cart which had attacked him and Mulder, but the girl next to him was alright. As people started screaming and more and more woke up, Scully took charge. 

"Alright now listen! We need to get off of this plane. Those who can, help those who have been injured get off safely. We carry those who need medical attention and all the medical supplies we can find to the beach. Any other medical doctors on this plane?" 

A man rose his hand, but he was one of those who needed to be carried and helped right away. Scully nodded toward him and looked around, but no one else had their hands up. 

"Alright. Move people!" she called when everyone stood there staring at her. They all jumped into action. Langly helped Mulder off the plane while Scully directed people and dealt with those who couldn't safely be moved before they got medical attention. 

The pilot was amongst the group who couldn't be moved without doing damage, and when Scully got to him she was surprised that he was still alive. As they had struck the ground the windshield at the front of the plane had cracked, allowing large branches of the tree they had apparently hit to go careening through the cabin. The Co-pilot was in worse condition then the captain. Scully did what she could to remove the branches protruding from both men, and packed the wounds quickly with whatever she could find. Once they were moveable, three people joined her and helped to carry the men out.

Before long everyone was off the plane and doing what they could to help Scully patch up the wounded. Someone managed to find a tarp to lay on the beach below the injured and keep the sand out of Scully's work. It had been a while since She had worked on someone who was alive. Luckily enough her suture skills were still very much intact. The screaming, however, unnerved her and she was reminded why she preferred to work on the dead. She kicked herself for thinking that in this situation, there were four people who had died upon impact. Many more who needed immediate medical attention. 

Scully did what she could, 'meatball surgery' as it was called on a show she watched. Her work was quick and dirty, but it got the job done. A few hours later she had managed to work on two broken legs, Langly's arm, identifying three concussions, two dislocated shoulders, and getting the pilot and Co-pilot in a somewhat stable condition. Mulder kept trying to pull her away, once she had gotten through the more serious cases, to ensure that she wasn't injured but she resisted until she was done. She sat back on the tarp and as the adrenaline slowly subsided she passed out again. 

Mulder found her there, laying next to the people whom she had been helping. He knew that she had been bleeding from her side as she worked, but he didn't know why until he got a chance to examine her. Her side was split in one quick slash that spanned the distance between her ribcage and hip bone starting on her back and moving to her navel. She had packed the wound with some Hawaiian shirt that had been offered up from the luggage, but the thin garment didn't do a lot to stop the bleeding. Mulder applied pressure to the wound. He called for help and a few people rushed over. The other doctor, David, who had the other broken leg, was awake and managed to talk Mulder through stitching her side. It was a long and messy process, but when he was done David was confident that she'd survive with rest. 

He rested her back down on the tarp and realized he was soaked through in her blood. He felt woozy, but as he looked around and saw that everyone was looking to him now he was able to push these thoughts down. 

Langly handed him a large stick to use as a crutch, which he greatfully accepted and stood before everyone.

He looked around at the island they had landed on, there was a long beach that stretched out in both directions along the waterfront. He wondered if it was an island, or if they had managed to make it to Florida. 

"Does anyone know where we are?" he asked to the crowd around him.

The pilot spoke up from behind him, Scully having been able to do enough for him such that he was able to hold onto consciousness- which was much more than could be said for the Co-pilot who remained in a deteriorating state, "We were blown out to sea. I had to do an emergency landing on this small island, it was either this or the middle of the ocean." 

Mulder nodded, "alright, we need to see what kind of supplies we have. Anyone have a cell phone? Radio? Some sort of communication device?"

There were five cell phones between everyone on the plane, each with considerable damage, most had broken displays and keypads at the very least. The radio from the plane was destroyed upon impact. Langly commandeered the parts from the phones and radio and set to work making something capable of sending a signal. 

The next thing to do, they all decided, was to take inventory of the food that they had brought with them and to start making fires in order to try to signal planes or draw in passing ships.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mulder scoffed, "Aliens Scully?"

~ I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings  
Coming down is the hardest thing ~

Scully woke up that evening. The sky was just turning from the pink hue of the sunset to a deep majestic blue. It took her a moment to remember where she was, for a second she allowed herself to believe that she was on a beach at some resort, that they had made it to Florida, and that she was in for a lovely relaxing evening. She turned her head and wanted to see Mulder beside her, stretched out lazily on a beach towel, watching the stars or possibly the UFOs that only appeared to him. Instead she was faced with the Co-pilot, weak and trembling. 

She forced herself to sit up although the pain from her side made her vision go fuzzy for a moment. She did what she could for Mr. Evan, as she had been told to call him, but without proper medical equipment it seemed quite possible that he wouldn't make it. She set to work changing bandages and elevating broken bones which she had surrounded by tree limbs to keep straight and wrapped tightly in t-shirts and the few ace bandages they had, retrospectively she was impressed with the fact that they had enough medical supplies for everyone. 

Suddenly she remembered that her side had been cut, and wondered when she had sutured herself. When she lifted her bloody shirt to examine it however she realized that someone else had sewn her up. Seeing as she couldn't remember who she assumed that she had passed out at some point. 

Once she had made her rounds she decided to go in search of Mulder. She scanned the patch of beach and was impressed to find that they had three different fires burning strongly, and the three young women from the back of the plane were working on a fourth. 

She approached them thinking that they might have an idea where her partner had gone off to. 

"Oh my god. That's not what we agreed on." one was arguing with the third. "Look, we each built ours our own way." she began indicating the fires that spotted the beach, "Yours is burning well now, but it was nearly impossible to light. Hers," she motioned to the second girl, who Scully could only assume was the first girl's sister, "had good back bones, but collapsed when it started burning. And mine had too much airflow through the branches so it went out the first time."

Scully looked at the piled wood that the girls were arguing around. It was set up like a log cabin with a tipi roof. 

The third girl rolled her eyes, "yes. I know. What I'm saying is, I think that the design I used would be better for th-" she broke off when she noticed Scully watching them. "Let's just light it. The way things are going we'll have plenty of time to build the perfect fire."

"I'll start making blueprints in the sand." one of the others said sardonically. 

Scully couldn't help but laugh, making them all jump. "Sorry." she said still smiling, and cleared her throat.

"Hey, you're the woman who saved all those people's lives aren't you? Are you alright? I heard you passed out from blood loss." Scully nodded as the first girl said in awe and the third got to work lighting the fire. "I'm Rowan by the way. That one", she said indicating her sister, "is Venus an-" the rest of her introductions were cut off by the other two's complaints.

"That one?!" Venus said and shoved an elbow into her sister's side.

"And before you ask," said the third girl, "yes, they are twins. I'm Natasha by the way." 

"And you are?" Venus asked, raising an eyebrow as she spoke.

Scully smiled, "Scully." then, realizing that they were civilians, "Dana Scully. Anyway, girls, I was wondering if you've seen my partner?" 

"What does she look like?" Natasha asked, still working on lighting the fire.

"He." Scully corrected without missing a beat, "He's really tall, short dark hair, large nose. He's probably running this place by now." 

One of the girls let out a laugh, "has he got kinda a goofy smile? Wearing a suit that's six sizes too big? Walking around with that blonde haired guy who keeps talking about the government crashing our plane?"

Scully nodded. Taking mental note of the fact that Mulder looked like an oversized two-year-old to anyone else, and the fact that she'd have to kick Langly's ass for spreading that paranoid crap in this situation.

With the fire successfully lit, the Natasha stood up, "He went that way" she said, pointing toward the wrecked plane with a small stick that was slowly burning, catching glares from both of the other girls. 

Scully thanked them and walked away, hearing them start a loud discussion over whether or not it was okay to point with fire.

As she reached the wreckage she heard her partner's familiar voice. She couldn't make out what he was saying as he appeared to be whispering. She stepped into the cabin and found Mulder and Langly huddled over a pile of electronics. Mulder, although his leg was causing difficulties in how he was sitting, was doing the handiwork, as both of his hands were still intact, and Langly was explaining how to do what he was doing and the issues they were facing. Another man sat in a chair next to them, offering up comments every once in a while, he was the one who alerted them of her presence by clearing his throat and looking up at her.

"- without it I just don't know if I can get it working." Langly was saying, he paused, and followed the man's gaze. "Scully!" he looked from her pale face to blood soaked shirt, "You don't look so good. Come sit down." he stood as he spoke and tried to help her into a chair. She allowed him to gently sit her down, she told herself, in reality the blood loss has caused her rigidity to decline massively.

Mulder watched this whole process wearing his best 'this is concerning me greatly' look. He was thankful when Langly helped her into the chair right next to him. "Hey you. What are you doing? You should be resting." he said, eyes glimmering with concern. He placed his hand on her knee.

Scully shrugged slightly away from him once the world stopped spinning. "I'm fine Mulder. I was just concerned that you weren't at a campsite. What are you working on?" 

Langly sighed, "some way to get into contact with the outside world. But all of the batteries were damaged some way or another. I'm gonna try connecting them in series and see if I can get a signal out." 

Scully examined the haphazardly thrown together mess of wires and nearly broken components that Langly was huddled over, "good luck." 

He gave her a stressed half smile and set back to work, "Gerald, you want to be my hands?" 

The man who had been sitting close by gave him a smile, "it would be my honor."

Langly smiled and nodded, "alright you two, top secret work happening here. Get out." 

Scully gave a small laugh and stood slowly up. She did her best to help Mulder to his feet, but between her inability to stand up straight on her own and his broken leg they appeared unfit for this assignment. Langly stood and helped them out of the plane, only muttering something quiet to Gerald under his breath before wordlessly helping his two friends get to a fire.

They quietly thanked Langly as they sat down, they watched him walk back to his comfort zone, wires and clear cut tasks.

"How the hell did we get caught up into this mess?" Mulder asked as Langly disappeared into the wreckage. Scully was already staring into the fire, she could still see beneath the flames the framework of the hut of logs it was build from. 

She sighed and looked up toward the cloudless sky, "sometimes things just happen." she turned to him with a grin, "or maybe it was aliens." 

Mulder scoffed, "Aliens Scully? I can't believe a woman of science such as yourself would be caught dead saying that word." 

Scully smiled and leaned carefully over until her head rested on Mulder's shoulder, "good thing we're way out here then. There's no one to hear me anyway." 

Mulder rested his head on hers and stared into the campfire. Eventually they fell asleep by the warmth of the fire. 

~~~

Mulder woke up first, the fire had gone out but someone at some point had put a blanket around them. He remembered blearily them moving from their position sitting up to lay down next to the low flames on a blanket that had been given to them. But he had no recollection of when the second blanket had come into play and whether it was before or after Scully had nestled into his arms. 

He blinked a few times, removing the sand and fogginess from his eyes and saw that the sun was just rising, along with the first few survivors. 

Scully woke not long after Mulder. She stayed where she was, not letting him know that she was awake and enjoying the warmth for a little while. After a minute or so, however, her responsibilities returned to her and she remembered that she had to go check on her patients. 

"Good morning" Mulder said, moving his arms so that she could escape as she began to not so subtly struggle against them. 

"Morning." she said with a yawn, "I should go see how everyone's doing. And probably change some bandages." 

"Don't forget those" Mulder said pointing to her side. She saluted and walked, staggering for a bit, toward her patients. He watched her go before turning over and continuing to rest for a little while, the image of her still swimming before his eyes as he slipped back down into unconsciousness. 

Scully was happy to see that the majority were doing as well, if not better, than they had been the evening before. 

As she worked, she noticed people gathering in front of the food and water stores that someone had put together and was impressed to see that a survivor was handing out equal rations to everyone and keeping tally marks next to each person's name. 

Once she was done with her examinations, she decided to check on Langly and Gerald's progress through the night with the communication device. 

She quickly walked to the plane and stepped inside, seeing that Langly was passed out in one of the chairs, and Gerald was nowhere in sight, she decided it would be better to give him some time to rest before she woke him. She grabbed a blanket from where she presumed Gerald had been sleeping and placed it over Langly before exiting the plane.


	5. Chapter 5

~ Well the good ol' days may not return  
And the rocks might melt and the sea may burn ~

It was about mid-day before anyone had the idea of having a group meeting. The concept traveled quickly through the crowd, and within ten minutes everyone was gathered in a circle near the wreckage waiting for someone to start. 

"Let's all go around and say our names and something about ourselves." someone called out from the crowd. 

As they went through it was discovered that they had four engineers amongst them, those three girls who had made the fires and a man who Scully had treated for a dislocated shoulder, Archibald or Archie for short. They also had a nutritionist, the woman who had been handing out the food rations that morning, Leanna. Tiffany, who sat next to Langly on the plane, worked in a customer service job. The last two worked in the tech industry, Taylor and Gerald, and of course, they had two FBI agents. 

Once it was discovered that Mulder and Scully were 'fancy policemen' as Tiffany called them, they were put in charge of directing people and making sure that everyone did their work. 

Leanna was officially put in charge of rationing the food, as she had already been doing, and inventorying the food that they were able to gather from the forest that lay beyond the beach. There was some argument over this point, as David, the doctor, and his wife Taylor felt that it was inhumane to be giving people so little to eat. It was decided purely through majority vote, although many arguments were made that Leanna was doing the best she could with what she had. 

The engineers were sent to do damage control on the plane, see what failed, and determine if it was fixable, or at least if something could be crafted out of it to get them all to safety. 

Langly and Gerald went back to working on their mess of wires.

Taylor and Tiffany were sent to gather indigenous fruit and see if there were any wild animals in that area. 

Scully busied herself by tending to those who still couldn't walk, and trying to make sure Mulder didn't walk too much on his makeshift cast. 

Mulder kept busy by aiding Scully when he she needed help, and carefully 'walking' the camp, mostly by leaning on Scully when she wasn't busy saving lives, to see the progress being made by everyone throughout the day. 

~~~

As dusk began to take effect everyone wandered back to their meeting place that morning for an agreed upon wrap up meeting for the day. 

As they all settled down they chose an order for the reports to be told. 

First was Langly's team as their project was the perceived as the best chance of survival. "We spent all day setting up the circuitry, but we now have what may be close to a working telegraph. We are going to send a signal tomorrow morning to anyone who can receive it. Do we have any idea about about our location so we can send coordinates?" 

When no one responded he nodded and indicated for the next person to speak. 

Leanna began her report. "We have enough food for everyone for another two days. Maybe three if we're willing to go into partial starvation. I think we need to focus our attention on fish moving forward. It seems this island is too small to really support beneficial meat for us to hunt. Plus if we get fish in our diets the protein will go a long way for our caloric intake everyday." 

Next were the engineers, who all managed to tag team the explanation. 

"There was a lot of damage done to the plane when we crashed. So much so that we couldn't get it airborne again even with all the right tools." 

"And the best we've got are a few Leatherman and knives." 

"We are entertaining the idea of making a boat and using parts from the two engines to make a propeller. It is probably doable, but we're not sure if we'd be able to support everyone on the boat. It may have to be a solo mission." 

"If we even are able to design and fabricate it, that is." 

"So keep that in mind in case we are able to work out the kinks on the propulsion system." 

There followed some discussion about the requirements for such a vessel in which the engineers quarreled and took notes. 

Next up was Scully, "as you've seen, most of the injured are mobile now to at least some extent. Mr. Evans is still getting worse and in dire need of hospitalization. The pilot, Mr. Anderson is recovering slowly, but still needing exams every few hours to check his progress. Finally, David's leg is healing, but she still appears to be unable to walk on it, so time will tell how that goes. We are out of bandages now, so I'm going to need some help washing the clothes that were donated to the cause so we can keep the injuries clean and healing. I would also appreciate if at meal times a few volunteers would assist me in feeding the wounded. As of now it's just down to vigilance over the injuries." 

When she was done, without even asking for them, she got five volunteers to do surveillance over the injured through the night so that she could get some sleep.

A few more people spoke in the meeting, but pretty soon they all split up for the night and moved towards the fires the girls had set up for everyone.

Mulder and Scully sat by one of the five fires they had that night. This one had what her father used to call the lean-to base on top of the cabin style base that had been used in the one from last night. She was again impressed by the ingenuity of those girls. 

She didn't wonder about the fire much longer however, as she was exhausted. Completely forgetting about dinner, Scully fell asleep curled up on a blanket with her head resting on Mulder's thigh. 

He stroked her hair back from her face and let her sleep for about an hour before his hunger made him think about getting up. 

Before he could attempt to detach Scully from his leg, he saw Leanna walking their way with two rations of food. She smiled at him and raised them up slightly to indicate that they were for them. Mulder moved his leg gently and ran his fingers through Scully's hair again, waking her up. 

She sat up cautiously and rubbed at her eyes, "what is it Mulder?" 

He smiled, she was adorable when she was sleepy... and the rest of the time. "You forgot about dinner." 

She nodded and almost lay back down to sleep some more, but Leanna had approached them. "You two haven't eaten yet. You can't miss meals on this dining plan." she spoke softly and with a smile. 

They both thanked her and began eating what she had brought them. 

That night they lay looking up at the stars, talking quietly about the situation they were in. 

"I don't think he can make it without proper surgery. I can't open him up here, Mulder, nothing is sterile and even we were able to sterilize it the damn sand would instantly infect the wound." Scully sounded tired and stressed. 

Mulder had his arm around her such that her head was resting on his shoulder. He lifted his arm and she rolled closer to him. "I know. I think that this signal thing ought to work. I mean we can't be that far from Florida or the Bahamas for that matter. Someone's bound to hear it." 

Scully nodded, "I hope so." 

"Plus Bermuda's not far from here. Maybe a ghost ship will venture out and pick us up." Mulder loved the way Scully rolled her eyes and scoffed at him when he said such things. 

"I guess it's too late for that case, huh?" Scully said indicating the full moon above them, and changing the subject from aliens to the most recent string of murders in Miami.

Mulder sighed, "I was thinking about that today. Think he got his final victim?" 

"If I were a betting woman I'd say he did." she paused for a moment, "but I hope he didn't."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescue

~ Learning to fly ~

Mulder woke up the next morning much later than he was expecting to. He had managed to sleep as the sun rose a quarter of the way into the sky, Scully had managed to slip away from him without notice. 

In fact, the only reason he woke up was because Langly shook his shoulder. "Dude. You gotta get up. Somethings happening." 

Mulder looked around for Scully, he saw her in the center of a crowd at the edge of the beach, she was yelling something. As he stood and with Langly's help made it toward the others he saw Scully strip to her undershirt and the shorts she was wearing, and dive into the water. He saw off on the horizon a man screaming and splashing around. As they reached the shore he realized that it was Archie, having been probably taken out by a current while fishing, struggling against the waves. 

Scully was a much better swimmer than Mulder realized, she was fast and elegant. Within a minute she had managed to reach Archie and supported him as she maneuvered through the changing currents back to shore. 

When they got back the three girls took in Archie and checked to see if he was okay, they yelled at him a bit for going into the ocean when he couldn't swim, but were over all just happy that he was okay.

Mulder and Langly helped Scully out of the water and to her feet. She winced when they pulled her up, "I think I tore my stitches." she looked down and saw the blood soaking through her shirt.

"This is why I never do anything for you." Mulder said, trying to make the situation lighter, "you just tear it apart." 

She laughed and winced again. 

Suddenly everyone went quiet.

They all heard the noises. They came very faintly at first, but soon it was evident what was coming. Helicopters. Helicopters with search lights and FBI agents to be exact. 

The survivors ran to the edge of the beach once more and waved their arms and jumped up and down. As the crafts landed on the small island tears of joy flowed down many faces in the crowd. 

Everyone rushed to the planes except Mulder, Scully, Langly, and those who couldn't move on their own. 

Skinner walked toward them, looking like a father who was just seeing his children for the first time in weeks. He tried to put on an official front and stood a foot or two away from them, "agents. Glad to see you're alright." he stated. 

They both smiled at him and nodded, "I'm not so sure you'll be getting that report on the Miami case, sir." Mulder said apologetically. 

Skinner laughed, "No I don't suppose that I will be," then after seeing Scully's blood stained side he took the last few steps toward them, "are you alright? Have you been attacked?" 

Scully shook her head, "just pulled out some stitches, nothing to worry about." 

Skinner, with permission, inspected her wounded side. He looked from her to Mulder's broken leg. Then to Langly's arm. He sighed, "I leave you kids alone for three days..." 

Mulder and Scully laughed and Skinner shook his head, "come on. Lets get you to the hospital." 

Mulder suddenly remembered, "We have someone who needs urgent care, the Co-pilot-" 

Scully cut him off, "No-" she cleared her throat and looked to the sand below, "Mr. Evan passed away this morning." she looked up at him, "he needed more help than I was able to give." 

Mulder wanted to hug her, but the paramedics were already surrounding them, making them both get onto stretchers and quickly getting them into a helicopter. 

As they flew off of the island, Mulder looked to Scully, and she looked back at him. They gave each other small smiles and when Mulder reached out his hand toward her, it was met with hers reaching out toward him. 

~~~

At the hospital in DC a few hours later, Mulder and Langly had gotten casts and Scully's side was examined and restitched. They were sitting in a room, waiting to be discharged, as the other two lone gunman walked in. 

Langly looked up as the door opened, his eyes lit up when he saw who it was. Frohike was carrying a large bouquet of flowers and Buyers had a smaller one. They both walked wordlessly to Langly and set down the flowers. All at once all of them tried to say something, but their words got trampled by the other two. They all smiled at each other, "We good?" Langly asked. 

The others nodded, "we discussed it and... Well we think you're right. But only if you take into account that-" 

Scully stopped listening to what Buyers was saying as Mulder placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear, "here we see nerds in their natural habitat. Not surrounded by nature, oh no, but by fellow nerds and technology." 

She laughed and lightly elbowed Mulder in the rib. He made a noise that drew the attention of the three lone gunman. 

"Don't think we forgot about you." Frohike said to them. He grabbed the big bouquet and handed it to Langly, then grabbed the smaller one from Buyers and gave them to Scully. She laughed lightly and thanked him. 

Mulder looked offended, "what? Am I not pretty enough for you?" 

Frohike laughed, "in your lonely dreams you tall gangly bastard." 

Mulder couldn't even pretend to be offended, he laughed outright. Buyers produced a small alien spaceship from his jacket pocket and tossed it at Mulder. He caught the UFO and saw that painted in the window were two little aliens holding a sign that said 'Feel Better Soon'. 

"We found it at the gift shop downstairs" Buyers explained. 

Mulder smiled and laughed, "thanks fellas." 

~~~

That night Mulder lay restlessly on his couch. He tossed and turned and tried different ways to elevate his throbbing foot. It seemed as though the new cast was causing more harm than good, but Scully had guaranteed that it was the only way to get full mobility of his leg again, so he had agreed not to tear it off the minute he got home.

He shut the TV off, currently not amused by the antics of Gilligan's Island. He stared at the ceiling, picturing the gorgeous views of the night sky. He couldn't believe that he missed it. What he really missed was Scully's warm body pressed up against his. Her head close enough to his so that he couldn't turn without getting a face full of her sweeping hair unless she moved it out of the way. The way she looked at the stars, small smile on her lips, and wonder in her eyes. This was a look she used on him sometimes that made his heart flutter. It only happened every once in a while, but when it did, he remembered exactly what he had done to lead up to it. 

A sharp ringing pulled him out of his thoughts, and it took him a full two seconds to realize that it was his phone. 

"Mulder." 

"Can't sleep either? Or did I wake you?" Scully's voice emanated from the speaker.

"I was awake. What's up? Everything okay?" 

"Yeah." she sounded unsure, "its just that- I don't know Mulder, I think that I almost miss the island... Is that weird?" 

Mulder let out a small chuckle, "yes. Completely. And I completely agree." 

He could tell Scully was now smiling as she spoke, "we should do our best to find cases in the keys or something like that." 

"Agreed." 

They were both silent for a moment, not having anything to say, but not wanting to sever this connection at the moment. 

"Mind if I come over?" Scully asked suddenly. 

Mulder's heart skipped a beat.

"I mean. I just can't sleep. We could get really early breakfast or something or-" she broke off, not really sure where she was going with this train of thought and not sure why she had even asked.

"Yeah. Lets got get," he looked at his watch, "3 am breakfast and talk about what we just survived." 

Scully let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, she was happy that he understood. "Be there in twenty."


End file.
